Automatic Grows

[RoundEye]

Are there any members here growing automatics? I think the short grow time is a great thing and would like to know how to increase the yields to match what the seed suppliers say they can get.

RoundEye Reviewed by RoundEye on 07-25-2009. Automatic Grows Are there any members here growing automatics? I think the short grow time is a great thing and would like to know how to increase the yields to match what the seed suppliers say they can get. Rating: 5

[oldmac]

A few months back while ordering some seeds for a partnered grow I'm involved in, we decided to try some auto flowering plants, for what I call "shits & giggles". We got a 3 pk of lowryderXAK47 and a 5 pk of lowryderXsanta maria, all fem seeds. The auto AK47 was great, the santa maria sucked.

All 3 AK47s germed and grew abt as expected.
Only 4 of 5 santa marias germed, they never went auto and grew real large. Had to put them into the bloom room on 12/12 to get them to flower. Then 2 of the 4 hermied (ripped those out) and I'm still waiting for the remaining 2 to finish.

Have harvested 2 AKs with one left to get cut down, probably tommrow nite.
Here's 2 pics of the first AK and a 3rd pic of a close up of the last 1.

[attachment=o223777] [attachment=o223778][attachment=o223779]

All the autos were grown along side mom's and veg out plants under 20/4 using a 600w MH. I really liked the AKs and think they are great for a small scale closet or cabinet grow. In our case we will probably do some more since it was really growing for free, we always have the mom light on anyway so fitting in 3-5 autos doesn't really cost us anything.

How to match the supplier claims'? I can't tell you cause they are just that, claims. I tend to believe what I see for results and don't really go by the claims. Just give them TLC like any plant and hope for the best.

[RoundEye]

So given that nobody seems to match the suppliers claims, what average did you get. Looks pretty good to me. What would that dry out to be?

[oldmac]

So given that nobody seems to match the suppliers claims, what average did you get. Looks pretty good to me. What would that dry out to be?

Sorry to take awhile to get back to you.
Don't have an average for the three yet, last one is still going, second still drying. (we deliberately have taken them abt 1 wk apart) That first one pictured was a little less then an oz, abt 20 grams manicured and dried. Remember that vendor's claims my be based on total green weight and that's 3-4 times more.(they never say "dried & manicured")

We've been talking about it here as to what could increase it's weight or make it better. We wanted to use a 600 HPS instead of the MH, and that may help some. Also if you were growing these by themselves you could do CO2 enrichment, dial in optium temp and light and if you really must some sort of bloom enhancement nute pkg.

Like I said earlier I can see why these might be good for a hobbyist with a small space and needs something easy to grow.

[RoundEye]

I have (2), 400watt HPS lamps and CO2. I'm using "Supernatural" brand nutes. More specifically "bloom terra" for the flowering and "grow terra" for vegging. Obviously with the automatics I'd not use the "grow terra". Just trying to figure if it's worth the time to see if I can get anything close to their claims. I think a solid .oz would be my determining factor.

[youngboi]

I been lookin at a few different strains that come feminized. How many plants do you recomend per sf. What kind of medium do you recommend for the grow and what would you say the potency is...also how much lighting for say 50 plants.. Thanks alot

[oldmac]

I have (2), 400watt HPS lamps and CO2. I'm using "Supernatural" brand nutes. More specifically "bloom terra" for the flowering and "grow terra" for vegging. Obviously with the automatics I'd not use the "grow terra". Just trying to figure if it's worth the time to see if I can get anything close to their claims. I think a solid .oz would be my determining factor.

Even tho they are autos, you still need to use a grow nute like "grow terra" while they are starting out. They are vegging and will need a grow based nutrient, once they start to flower then you can switch to "bloom terra".

Got to look at the grow log last night, that first one was 23.8 grams finished. Second one is a little samller and currently 22 grams, may lose another 1-2 gr in the next few days (about 90% dry currently). Third is the largest and I'll let you know in about a week to 10 days.

These where grown alongside mom's and vegging plants, so never got CO2.
That could make a good difference, probably put you over a oz/plant.

[oldmac]

I been lookin at a few different strains that come feminized. How many plants do you recomend per sf. What kind of medium do you recommend for the grow and what would you say the potency is...also how much lighting for say 50 plants.. Thanks alot

As I mentioned above somewhere these were fem seeds from lowryder. The AKs grew like I expected and did well, the LRxsanta maria did not show auto characteristics or low size.

They seemed to do fine in 6" diameter pots, and in this case we were using Pro-mix bx. I would recommend adding abt 20% perlite to Pro-Mix since it does not drain as well as the old Pro-mix HP (hi-perlite) which is not available anymore. But any grow media or grow style could work with these.

You could fit 50 plants in a 4'x4' area comfortably and (to me) that means 1000w HPS, or some equivalent light source.

[youngboi]

Thanks a lot oldmac. How much of a spike in the electric bill do you think running 1000w 20/4 would be... Now my next obstacle is figuring out a SOG plan for this.like harvesting 40-50 plant every 3-4 weeks

[exit66]

would any of you auto growers willing to give up info on a nute schedule !! iam getting ready for the second batch of autos and would really like to get it right this time !! the first batch of ak47 are doing ok into there 4th week. iam useing adv. nut. and the seeds came from attitude seeds. there under a 1000w 18/24 grown in 4in ports w/ hydrotron w/ a drip system that drains back into a resivior. thanks growers !